Saturday, November 28, 2009

Winged Beistle Ghost


One of my favorite early diecuts by the Beistle Company.  It has tissue "wings" that fold out.  the example seen above is a scan of it's body, modified in Photoshop.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Vintage Halloween - E Rosen Lollipop Holder


Love this great black cat Halloween image.

The Free Health Care Plan of Dr Zomb


Light years ahead of his time, Dr. Zomb offered free health care for any persons attending his "Seance of Wonders" show.

 
No deductible, all preexisting conditions allowed.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Spookville


A favorite banner of mine - the original was only a few colors, I colorized it.  Click photo for a larger view.

Vintage Halloween Invitation



Vintage Halloween Invitation.  Click on the photos for a MUCH larger view!

The Pumpkin Shark


Yesterday we spotted this Great Pumpkin-Shark graphic on an old door in Pasadena.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

1914 Dennison Halloween Crepe


1914 Dennison Co. Halloween Crepe Paper, one of my favorite designs.  The 1914 patent appears below.  Click any photo for a larger size image.


Bring Me A Tiny Car



"Bring Me A Tiny Car" - After a long night watching the trick or treaters, Toby the Cat takes a much needed break.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

These Ghoulish Things



Last night was "Holiday in the Park" in Burbank, an annual "welcoming of the holiday season".  There was live music in the streets, many types of food, and most of the stores were open for business.  Although the Halloweentown store was not open, their windows were dressed perfectly for the upcoming holidays.




Thursday, November 19, 2009

More Stats Floral Halloween Displays


 More photos from Stats Floral in Pasadena.  I like their store - they always have their Halloween displays up by early August, and the displays are done very nicely.  I bought the above prop from them a few years ago.  I call her "Mamacita".  The building was originally built as a hotel in the 1890s.  A fire burned the upper levels of the hotel in the early 1900s and the once tall hotel became just one story tall.  You can still see melted plaster from the fire on the top of the columns in their Christmas tree display room.  A great store with a spooky past!  Click on any of the photos for a larger view.



 
 

Haunted Tiki Island

I love this guy's 2009 Halloween Display!


 
 

Just AMAZING!


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Celebrate Halloween With Your Hair in Flames!

In keeping with the "Potential Halloween Disaster" theme as in the previous "Fortune-Telling Charms" post, I found this 1903 patent online for a Halloween mask.  I would have never thought to design a paper or cardboard mask that ties over your head and is illuminated by a REAL candle.  What could possibly go wrong?


Vintage Fortune Telling Cake Set



Hoo-Boy, I wonder how many hospital trips were caused by these things?  Metal fortune-telling charms meant to be baked into a cake.  Yes, the instructions say to either wrap a ribbon around the charm, or wrap them inside wax paper before inserting into the batter, but how many read the directions?   I wonder if these were made of lead?  Cool packaging though.

A friend of mine once baked coins into chocolate chip cookies to surprise her family, she thought it would be magical for them to find money that way.  Her brother nearly lost his tongue when it was burned by a sizzling hot nickel.   Ah, how did we survive our childhoods?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A Shelf of Skeletons


Skeletons taunting shoppers to buy them from an upper shelf at Stats Floral in Pasadena.

Skeleton Dance Diecut


This diecut appears in one of the early Halloween collector books, but I've never been able to find one of these diecuts in person.  In the 1990s I created a vector illustration of this and printed it in a very large size to use as a decoration.  I think this is as close as I'm going to get owning a copy of this rare Beistle diecut.

The William Castle Film Collection


A newly released set of DVDs - with LOTS of extras including the great documentary "Spine Tingler!  The William Castle Story"   All the details and reviews can be seen on the Amazon link below.

The William Castle Film Collection (13 Frightened Girls / 13 Ghosts / Homicidal / Strait-Jacket / The Old Dark House / Mr. Sardonicus / The Tingler / Zotz!)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Vintage Beistle Witch


A great Beistle witch design.  Vintage cardboard diecut, 1940s-50s.  Unusual coloration for this diecut.  Not embossed.  Click image for a larger view.

Dangling Skeleton



This is one of my favorite Beistle skeleton designs.  The size of the diecut is huge, the pieces are connected together with string.  I really like the evil facial expression.

Face transplants for papier mache JOLs



If you are missing or need replacement paper inserts for your vintage Halloween papier mache pumpkins, cats, devils, etc, make sure to check out my sales page on Spookshows.com .  The inserts are only $2.50 each right now and are printed on vellum with the exception of the "Choir Boy" inserts which, like the originals, are printed on less transparent paper.  Nearly all of the American papier mache lanterns have replacement inserts available on my website.